Not So Civil Tariffs and Government Accountability | 02.03.25

In the fourth episode of Civil Union, hosts Alex and Ryan delve into a variety of pressing political issues. The couple passionately discusses the economic and geopolitical impacts of tariffs, emphasizing how these policies ultimately burden American consumers and damage relations with key allies such as Canada and Mexico. They critique the Trump administration's handling of these tariffs and the broader political landscape, highlighting systemic failures and Republican policies. The episode also touches on recent aviation tragedies, linking them to administrative decisions within the FAA, and criticizes Trump's exploitation of these events for political gain. They offer encouragement for the new leadership within the DNC and introduce lighter topics such as innovative accessibility technology and promising Alzheimer's research. The podcast concludes with a brief overview of upcoming political confirmations and hearings, emphasizing the ongoing importance of informed and engaged political discourse.00:00 Introduction to Civil Union Podcast

00:40 Personal Reflections

01:20 Political Rant: Defending Patriotism

02:54 Understanding Tariffs: A Deep Dive

05:21 Tariff Impacts and International Relations

07:29 Economic Concerns and Recession Fears

13:15 Pentagon Policies and DEI Ban

15:37 Black History Month and Civil Rights

17:30 Fun Segment: Who Said It? Melania or Hillary

21:25 Tragic Plane Crashes and Government Accountability

29:30 The Role of the DNC and New Leadership

35:01 Innovative Solutions and Light News

38:22 Upcoming Confirmation Hearings and Final Thoughts

Music: What's The Angle? by Shane Ivers -
https://www.silvermansound.com

Transcript

0:07

Welcome to Civil Union, the podcast where politics meets partnership. We're Alex and Ryan, a married couple navigating life and debates in a conservative state. We bring you sharp insights, bold opinions, and honest conversations about the political issues shaping our lives, especially those living on society's margins. Tune in for real talk, a touch of humor, and plenty of passion, because when it comes to politics, every voice matters. And we're here to make sure they're heard. So, welcome to the fourth episode, it was a great weekend, we celebrated your birthday, Alex. Yes, on Friday we celebrated my birthday, it went really well, I had a relaxing day of doing absolutely nothing, and I made myself a little Little, um, pudding cake, which was really, really nice. It was something my grandma used to do every year. She passed away in August, so I kind of commemorated her by making this cake and it came out as delicious as it could be coming from me. So it was good. Yeah. Yeah. It was a really good day and I actually got to sleep that night too. I have, I've been coughing a lot, like especially at night. And so, uh, that seemed to a little bit, uh, subsided a little bit. So Finally. So people always ask, what do you do when you get home? And I always respond to them with the generic, Oh, I cook, which I do love. Or I, I play with my dogs. Actually, my dogs bully me into playing with them, but honestly, what I do when I get home, I don't, and I don't want people to think that I'm crazy here, but. What I do is I think I sit on the couch or at the kitchen table and I think that's what I fucking do. My mind is always thinking, especially about politics. Where are we going with this nation? What are we going to do about this new situation? Will there even be an America in four years? I'm so tired of people calling us the Democrats, the liberals, anti Americans, when really, if you think about it, We're not anti American. Us, the Democrats, are some of the most patriotic people out there. My husband and I are recording a fucking podcast because we care so much about this country. We see that girl, America, burning in the dumpster fire over there right now. And we're trying to rescue her. We're seeing it. We're calling out the BS. We're saving America. I don't know how far we'll get, but at least we can say we tried, Alex. They're just trying to set us off, piss us off. And when they do, well, we at the civil union podcast, we'll record an episode for you guys because we'll call them out. Okay. Rant over. Good rant. I like that. That's totally true though. I'm happy to be here. All right. So, yeah, so tariffs, do you want me to take this or you? You go ahead and start the first. So I have a whole little lesson for you guys. What exactly is a tariff? A tariff is a tax and hey, I thought Republicans didn't like those things. Um, but it's, it's a tax on imported goods coming into your country. So, for example, let's say there is a 10 percent tariff on iPhones. This 10 percent tariff or tax is set by the US government. They are the ones that are putting the tax on the iPhones. So the iPhones are made in China. The 10 percent tax is not getting paid by China. Again, China is not paying the tariff. The tariff actually goes on to the business in the United States that imports the product. This tariff tax is paid by the U. S. business. So all the businesses in the United States that are importing these products to sell to you are paying these tariffs. Do you actually think the business is going to lose their profits or are they going to pass it on to you, the consumer? The answer is you. You pay the tariff. So when the tariffs go up, China doesn't pay it. Our government doesn't pay it. Trump doesn't pay it. You pay the tariff. Now, there is this good argument that when they raise tariffs, this will in turn bring back manufacturing on U. S. soil. Fine. That's great. But the costs are still gonna go up because the reason why the manufacturers left the United States in the first place is to get cheap labor, no environmental regulations, no health and security. The only way to bring manufacturing back to the United States and see costs go down is to break unions. Lower wages, ignore environmental regulations, and take away health benefits. I guess that is the Make America Great Again's message to us, is to break unions, continue with low paying jobs, ignore our Earth's resources, and no provided healthcare. And we all know their next goal is going to be to overturn the Affordable Care Act. But okay, go ahead, babe. No, and that is all. And we would love that you open it up like that, because I actually just had someone asking me like, what is a tariff? And they were hoping we would go over that. So I'm really glad that we educated people on that. One thing that's really crazy about this situation is Trump has no, his disregarding everything other than himself, you know, these allies that we've had with Canada and Mexico, these as ally ship that we've had have been in place for decades. I mean, they are very important with our trade. There was actually something called the North American Trade Agreement, which is a substitute for NAFTA, which was created in 1992. And this allowed for almost, it was an agreement that allowed for better balance between our countries, It allowed all three of us to benefit, you know, and so for Trump to do this. This is why Trudeau and Claudia have both come out in very quick statements because it is so absurd. That he is trying to enact a tariff on Canada, Mexico, and let's be clear here. He, when he was running, said he wanted to place a 25 percent tariff on China, and that's not what happened. He placed tariffs on our allies and only a 10 percent tariff on China. Trudeau came out on Saturday and basically said he's perplexed why our closest friends and neighbors are choosing to target us instead of so many other challenging parts of the world. I mean, he, he basically warned us that it's not. It's going to affect us. It's going to affect our jobs as Americans. It's going to affect our prices. And, he had an emotional reference to the nation's shared history and said, We have fought and died beside you. Mexico's President Claudia is planning on enacting a plan B and enacting a retaliatory 25 percent tariff on American goods. I mean, This is not going to benefit anyone in either camp. Now, you know, this whole tariff fiasco, I, I consider myself a pretty smart person. I'm no scholar. I don't have a doctorate degree, but I do have common sense here. We both do. And I think a lot of people who take the time out of their schedule to actually listen to this podcast. Also has common sense, but out of all the research I've conducted on tariffs lately, the tariffs have only had negative impacts for both countries involved. This administration has an inherited a very healthy economy. I think with what he did last night, and this is being recorded on Sunday evening, we're, Headed for an economic recession. I think this is going to put the entire world into a recession and it will be America's fault again. Like, right. Like, didn't we cause the crash in 2008 when all those banks fucked the middle class over. I can't remember. So much has happened since then, but Well, and what's crazy is the recession was a big deal. I mean, I feel like we are still not where we were before the recession. Like it took us a very long time to come out of that. One of the reasons they're saying they're kind of throwing out as a reason for this tariff is fentanyl, fentanyl drugs, and immigration. But drugs You know, why don't you just not do drugs? Well, I mean, that an idea? That is an idea. Why don't we invest in mental health? I mean, the part of the drug, uh, part of the thing with fentanyl is Canada isn't even a major source of it. Last year, I saw this statistic that U. S. Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted 19 kilograms of fentanyl at the northern border. They came across 9, 600 kilograms at the border with Mexico. So, if we're going to think fentanyl as an issue, Canada has nothing to do with it. 19 kilograms out of 9,000 in the southern border. So, one thing to note also with this whole tariff situation, presidents can only impose tariffs for three reasons. One is economic injury from import surges, two is for national security, and three is for unfair foreign competition. Drugs is not on that list. Immigration is not on that list. So if Trump uses either one of those as a reason, it will more than likely, like there are people out there that think 90 percent that this is going to go to court. So it's going to be argued. It's going to be challenged. What the tariffs is going to go to court. Yes, because there's no reason for. He hasn't come up with an actual reason to declare it. The only other thing he could possibly do to make this go through is declaring a national emergency, but we are not in one, and he would have to prove that. He'll probably do that on Monday. And it will be very interesting to see what he does with that, because yeah, unless he can come up with a reason, they can, people can fight it. I mean, he's nuts. He's just absolutely nuts. It is. He is absolutely nuts. One thing. Also, I want to just specifically note about this too, because I don't think people are understanding this as well. Elon Musk's company, Tesla, huge car company, has very strong ties with China. I still think it is very interesting that Trump said he was going to put tariffs primarily on China during the campaign. Mexico and Canada were not part of those talking points. And all of a sudden, it feels like Flipped and Canada, Mexico now are 25 percent tariffs. It makes, it makes it seem like Trump is doing something, but Canada or China only got 10 percent tariffs. Well, just so happens that Tesla delivers 36. 7 percent of its cars to China. It is the second largest market. For Elon Musk, and Elon Musk is rubbing shoulders with Trump, and now all of a sudden, we're putting less tariffs on China and more on countries that really don't affect him. Just food for thought. Yeah, well, hey, why does Elon Musk right now have access to all our social security and Medicare information? Uh, that's a whole nother topic for the next episode, but it's absolutely nuts. Yeah. So, um, here's a fact for you is since world war two, the United States has performed significantly better on averages under the administrations of democratic presidents than Republican presidents, this difference is found in economic variables, including job creation, GDP, growth, stock market returns. Personal income growth, et cetera. The unemployment rate has risen on average under Republican leadership while it has fallen under Democratic leadership. And as history shows between 1953 until today, now 10 of 11 recessions have begun under Republican presidents. Um, yeah, it's true. And. Just like with every recession, a democratic president comes in four years later and cleans up the mess. Yeah, it is interesting that there is a pattern here. And you, you see the pattern because you know history really well. I don't necessarily see, I don't think the normal person would see it. But you know, we had this conversation the other night about this. And it's like, you know, you warned us or warned this household, you were like, we need to start saving. We need to start doing things in place because this may happen. There's a very good chance that a recession is on the horizon. And I don't think anyone's really talking about that yet, especially the news media, because they don't want to scare people. But they're covering obviously other things that have happened this week, which have distracted from this subject for a tiny little bit. But it is something to know. And I think it's very important that you kind of lay that out as connection. I'm so interested to see what the stock markets do tomorrow. But I have no idea how that works. Well, and something to note that I had saw too as well, which I didn't even think about this, but it makes sense. Mexico is the number one source of our agricultural goods in the U. S. Canada is a huge source for grains. So if they are going to put tariffs on these people, it is in. definitely going to raise costs in the grocery store. I mean, people are going think prices are expensive now. I mean, we can't go to the grocery store without spending at least 200 bucks. What are these tariffs going to do with our grocery bills? I cannot imagine spending more money at the grocery store. All right, we got to move on to another topic because this is just infuriating to me. Um, so, the Pentagon agency, or should we start calling it Pete's Pentagon playground? I don't know. That's a lot of Pete. How do you feel about that? Pete's playground? Well, how long did it take you to come up with that? Pete's Pentagon playground. Say that three times fast. Pete's Pentagon playground. Pete's Pentagon playground. The Pentagon agency has paused holiday celebrations for things like Martin Luther. King Jr. Day, Black History Month. I mean, here's the list. I have, I have some lists on this episode, so I apologize. But Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Black History Month, Women's History Month, Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Pride Month. Hey, that affects us. Uh, Juneteenth, National Hispanic Heritage Month, you know, the list goes on, there's a couple other things in there, but this ban was in response to Donald Trump's goal on dismantling anything that involves DEI, that You know, that terminology that none of us really knew about three weeks ago. Maybe it was a part of project 2025. Alex, did you ever get through the entire project 2025? Oh my God, it is so dense. I got halfway through it, but something important with now that you brought project 2025 up is it's interesting to note when I was starting to read that how in the past, this is this, the authors of that is a company. I cannot remember the name. You can look it up, but they have had hands in. Past presidential elections since the nineties and every administration that is Republican, they bring in people from that company that helps write this project. They've written past projects and in past presidents, Republican presidents, these presidents have enacted, they've said like 80 to 90 percent of what is in the book in the past. That's past history. So when. This book came out back last year. That's why it kind of made news waves because there were certain people trying to sound the alarm sound the alarm and it's like no one took it seriously. But there is already been past history on this book and we are seeing it. There are people now that have been indirect. They have directly written in this book that are now part of his administration. So anyway, I think the amount of information in that fucking project was so vast. It was like it was even too much for me. I was like. Certainly people aren't going to neglect him again, but seriously, I was so wrong with that one. It's just funny because now I hear the news and they're like, Do you think he's enacting everything in 2025? And everyone's like, yeah. And it's like, we knew this was going to happen anyway. Yeah. Speaking of the, uh, celebration holidays and celebration months and how they're like banned, it's February, which means it's black history month and our government, our federal agencies aren't even allowed to celebrate black history month, even though the black population definitely helped this administration get elected to office. I mean, we, the Democrats lost. African American voters between the 2020 and 24 elections. But, you know, we here at the civil union podcast, we continue to celebrate black history month. Absolutely. So we're going to try to have a little quote or a little blurb about black history month. And right now it's a quote by dr. Martin Luther King jr. And I want everyone to really feel this, to think about it. Here's the quote. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. End quote, so are you silent somewhere in your life? I'm sure our 20 listeners are very concerned about America right now. So I don't think this quote would apply to us, but you know, think about it, take it in. Tell someone that quote, share the podcast, maybe, you know, I really do love that. And I think it is very important because people are almost too scared to say anything or they're too, they're kind of waiting and seeing what's going to happen with this administration. So everyone's kind of quiet, but it is important to remember, we gotta keep, we gotta keep speaking up. And did you see, uh, president Obama's post? I think it was yesterday he posted. It was absolutely amazing and perfect, especially for everything going on with, you know, holidays. He made this great post. I would highly suggest reading it. Obviously he always posts and writes eloquently, but definitely look it up because it's on Instagram and I thought it was just very well written for the time. I'll have to check that out. Thanks for letting us know. Okay. We're in the middle of our episode now. So let's play a little game. Uh, I really liked the, who said it? One last, I agree. Let's last week. Yeah. So let's keep it going. Okay. So, who said it either Melania Trump or Hillary Clinton. Okay. There's seven quotes here. Okay. Are you ready? Yeah, here we go. Here's number one. I don't have a nanny. I have a chef. I have an assistant and that's it. I'd do it myself. Melania or Hillary? Oh my god, I would feel bad if I get this wrong. I'm gonna say Melania, because I don't think that would be Hillary. Ding! You still need to get like a buzzer. Okay, uh, good job. Thank you. Next one. Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world. Melania or Hillary? It's a pro women quote. I would think it's Hillary. Yes, good job. Yes! Okay. The First Lady role is really difficult. It has no job description. You have to create it for yourself. Melania or Hilary. Okay, that could, I feel like that could be 50 50. But I don't think Melania really enjoyed being a First Lady. Ladies, I'm going to assume it is Hillary. She you're, you're right. Correct. Yes. Melania is such a great first lady. She didn't even care about the Christmas. I really remember her. Yeah. What is it? Peace on the world. Hell on the world. I still can't believe she said that. That's hilarious. Um, okay. So here we go. Next one. It was kind of a fun experience. We stayed in a hotel. It was clean. It was, I think, a holiday inn. It's funny, when we go travel, they don't have five star hotels. You go with it. Okay, that has to be Melania, and if it's not, I'm gonna be very upset. Yes, it's Melania. Okay, good. Um, okay, here's the fifth one. You ready? I am, you know, adamantly against illegal immigration. Uh, Melania. Yes. Good job. Oh wait, no, it was Hillary. Yeah. Hillary. Yeah. Wow. Um, okay. Here's a moment. It was okay. Uh, he supports everybody. He supports women. He encourages them to go to the highest level to achieve the dreams. He employs many, many women. Oh God. Melania or Hillary? Um, I will say Melania. Yes. Okay. Yes. Okay. And here's number seven. Um, in case there was a tie, I have a tie breaker, but, um, so you could see from the tape, the cameras were not on, it was only a mic. And I wonder if they even knew the mic was on because they were of boy talk and he was led on. Hilary? Melania. Oh, I know. About the pussy grabbing moment. I remember that one. Yes, God. It's funny how almost everyone's forgot about that moment. Obviously, because they've still voted for him. Okay. Moving on. That was a great game. I always win. I love that. I always win that game. It's fun. So yeah, we had a really hard time deciding whether to put this as like the first story or not, because It's deeply troubling everything that has happened to the airline industry this past week. In fact, it would have been our first story if we didn't have a psychopath in the White House, you know? But with us going through a trade war with Mexico, China, Canada on Saturday night. Uh, that set me off and we really wanted people to learn about tariffs at the beginning of the podcast and the impacts they that these tariffs will have on you. So, um, it's really, truly devastating to see the plane crashes this past week., so here's a little, this is the last list I promise. But here's a list of everything that was leading up to the first plane crash. January 20th, FAA director fired. January 21st, air traffic controller hiring freeze. January 22nd, Aviation Safety Advisory Committee disbanded. January 28th, buyout retirement demand sent out to employees, the fork in the road email, which we talked about on the previous episode. Uh, we all know Elon Musk was behind that, but then on January 29th, the very next day, the first American mid air collision in 16 years in Washington, DC. 67 lives are tragically lost. And on January 31st, a MedEvac jet drops from the sky. Seven lives were lost, six on the aircraft, one on the ground. Now I'm not a religious person. And if I was, we all know how much Republicans love God. I would look at. These crashes. And when I look at this list as like a sign from above, I mean, seriously, I'm no mathematician, I'm not even great with numbers, but what are the fucking odds that something like this happens? How big of a coincidence can this be? How big does a coincidence have to be for it to not be considered a coincidence anymore? That maybe perhaps this administration are the ones to blame for this fucking crash. Speaking of coincidences, something I had noticed or read about, which I found very interesting, was that the Washington DC crash happened over the Reagan airport. And President Reagan, back in 1981, fired 11, 000 air traffic controllers after they went on strike. The air controllers went on strike seeking better working conditions, better pay, and a 30 hour work week. They have said that since that huge firing, the air traffic controller industry had never been the same. They never got back to their numbers. And then when they finally were getting close to the numbers, COVID happened. And then that kind of weakened that whole department. But But it's just, it was, it's, isn't that very interesting that this all happened over that airport? It's just, well, how are his like supporters viewing these tragedies? The list of dates I just read is. How I'm being fed information about everything leading up to this first tragedy. What propaganda is being fed to them? Shouldn't the MAGA supporters view this crash as a sign from God? That maybe, just maybe, the tyrant dictator they elected to office for the second time is fucking around with people's lives? I just think that this is either the biggest coincidence in the history of our lives, or The Trump administration is at fault here. I mean, I'll say it. I will go on record. I'll stoop to their level of idiocracy instead of just blaming Biden and DEI. It's their fault. Trump, Musk, everyone involved in this administration. It's their fault 67 lives were lost in the icy waters of the Potomac River on January 29th. Who else? What people? What news media will stand up with us on this? It's not Biden. It's not DEI. It's this administration's fault. Shame on them. We still don't know how the medevac jet crashed. It wasn't a collision. We all saw the horrifying videos. But six Mexican nationals who were flying from Shriners Children's Hospital in Philadelphia back to Tijuana, um, were killed. So that happened. That was very tragic. And something about this whole situation too is how The term DEI, I mean, Trump is, Trump, what he did last week is insane. And I don't understand how anyone would still be supporting this man because he politicized a tragedy. He stood up on that podium and instead of being a president and helping the country go through these things, this was even before Friday, you know, he placed blame on the DEI and I just find that. just nuts and he has such a huge lack of empathy. Um, I mean the term DEI is now becoming a slur. It's a way to undermine people's successes. It's a stand in for women, people of color and unqualified. They're pushing the idea that the problem is there isn't enough white people in these roles. I mean, and the fact that that is a talking point yet, you know, Everyone's kind of just not sure how to handle it is is just kind of nuts to me one of the pilots on the Blackhawk They have found this was a woman her family up until Saturday Didn't feel comfortable releasing her name out of fear. They knew she would be blamed And they didn't want to come out with the name. Well, then on Saturday, I guess the army finally decided to release her name. I'm sure they were in agreement with the family and talked with him before they released her name, because Saturday they came out with the name and the family made a statement. But their statement, you know, typically is like, Oh, we're gonna miss her everything. Their statement was purely Listing out her accolades because they felt like they had to the fact that they felt like they had to do that and show like, Oh, she got her master from here and they got her training and they do this like that is the state of this country right now is people are having to stand up for their loved ones that have died because they know they're going to be attacked because of Trump's actions calling out the D. I. As a reason for this crash. It's absolutely crazy to me. Yeah, it's it's really sad. So I want everyone to listen to this. We did not have an FAA administrator respond to the horrible plane crashes because Elon Musk pushed that agency's head to resign after he fined SpaceX for failing to follow safety requirements. This is true. I listened to Trump's press conference and I encourage everyone else to listen to it before it gets lost in all the piles of shit that he's loading upon the American people. But after you listen, I have to ask. Is this normal? Is this what we are supposed to be used to? That a leader can show absolutely no compassion for these victims, but instead blames everyone who isn't white for this Meanwhile, he stands there and ignores the damage he's done because he fired all the good people who run these agencies. I ask, I beg, I plead, someone in the conservative leadership have the fucking balls to stand up and call this what it is. It's racist, it's fear mongering, it's the blame game. Or is everyone in the conservative party beholden to this tyrannical power that keeps you in your place? It's really sad what's going on. It's very sad. And you know, even if you are an air, air traffic controller, the fact that he's putting so much weight on their role and saying, you know, if I was one, I would, it would make me feel miserable. But what people don't understand, there are 25, 000 applicants for each air traffic controller job. That job is a coveted job. It's not an easy job to get. They aren't just given to anyone. And it'll matter with the DEI. There are no standards. There are still standards that need to be met when you're going into a job like that. They don't just fill those positions. So it's just, it's very, it's very unsettling that a president is just ready to attack instead of bringing the country together. Yeah. We need a lighter topic. Yeah. So. Can something get lighter in this country or? Moving on. The DNC, you know, after their, uh, failure in November have to move on. They have to figure out a way to get past this. They have to figure out a way to rebrand. There is a problem with their brand right now. And they just nominate, they not, they didn't nominate, they, Ken Martin won as the next chairman for the Democratic National Committee. One of the things he has said right out of the gate, which I find great is, at least he's saying this, he's saying, he's taking the low road. So his candidates can take the high road, the gloves are coming off. Now, I agree with that. I think if anyone's going to do anything, it should be Ken Martin because he has the ability to do that while candidates, it follows them a little bit more. So if he's going to act on this, I'm kind of excited to see where he takes this. One other thing with this whole DNC situation moving forward, um, David Hogg, a student activist, I'm sure you'll recognize the name. He was a survivor of the Parkland school shooting. He's a very big. Advocate for anti gun legislation. He actually helped create March for our lives. He was nominated to vice chair, which is significant because he is the youngest to ever be elected to the DNC. He's 24 years old. He is the youngest individual prior to this was Joe Andrew in 1999 at 39 years old. So it's a very significant age jump there. And he's the first ever from Gen Z to be on the DNC. So with Ken Martin in place. David Hogg being one of the vice chair. He's not the only vice chair. There are numerous vice chairs, but I feel like these little movements they're making may be really good. You know, the established Democratic Party, for instance, Nancy Pelosi did not back Ken Martin. She actually backed another candidate, which I think was a little bit more old school. So I'm kind of excited for that. for Ken Martins, um, winning this, but we'll see what this says for the DNC and kind of where they're going. I mean, what are your thoughts on this? I mean, yes, Ken Martin won the leadership he's vying for. Now the real work begins for him. And I'm hopeful. I'm not excited. I'm hopeful he'll reshape and restructure this party. I saw the leaders of the Missouri State Democratic Party enjoying themselves in D. C., celebrating the election of Ken Martin. I guess they had to go up to D. C. for a convention and vote. I'm really not familiar with the process because everyone holds their cards so close to themselves in this state. Uh, but I gotta say, scrolling through the posts, I came out with more questions than I did answers. Are these Missouri leaders getting paid? Are our contributions paying those salaries or is everything out of pocket for them? Like it was for us when I was a delegate and we went to the convention in Chicago, which was absolutely amazing to attend. I actually think Chicago should host it forever. Um, but I'm 20 listeners out there. The Missouri Democratic leadership does not excite me anymore, you guys. I'm not excited by them. I shook hands with them. I've been to events with them. They don't know my name. I know they do work, and they are very hard leaders. They are very intelligent people. But there is just no excitement. I think this needs to be Completely shook up if we actually want to start winning state elections. It's a major problem. And until those changes are enacted, we're going to have, we're going to continue to lose state elections. Yeah, absolutely. Um, I agree with you because I remember Chicago and I remember we had a great time. It was nothing against that. But in this Chicago did great with running that whole situation. Um, but I do remember you specifically, you know, us really trying to have conversations with people and it was it was kind of hard to get you involved. In those situations with people, it's very like, um, everyone holds their cards really, really close. No one really talks to each other. You know, I met some really great people. I really did. And those are the people who are actually showing up and trying to get out the vote. And there's a lot of young blood out there. And I'm going to say this as my final thought before we moved on to lighter topics. The state of Missouri will never win a blue election again until we replace the current leadership with newer. younger blood. Maybe that's us. Yeah, I agree. And the people that we met at the DNC that we really enjoyed, they are the ones like you said, doing the action putting their boots on the ground, you know, that's, that's the direction we need to go are people that are going to be really pushing this forward. One thing I want to note, before we leave this subject, because I'm kind of curious how many people actually know what the DNC does or is, I just want to make a statement just so you're more educated. The DNC is not only responsible for the Democratic National Convention, which is what me and Ryan went to, and it happens during every election cycle. For the president, but also deciding what direction the Democratic Party is to take in the next election cycle. So Ken Martin having this position will be very meaningful in pushing this in the direction that may be different than where we were coming from. They coordinate campaign strategies for not only national elections. But also your state and local elections. So the DNC has a hand in everything. They conduct polling, they helped conduct polling, they help with electoral research and fundraising. So they're kind of the backbone of the democratic party behind the scenes. Let's move on to lighter news. Okay Alex, give us something good. So in light news, we're going to end this because it's been a rough, heavy week, like always. There is a new thing on the market. It's called Hereview Subtitle Glasses. Now, we're not getting paid for this, but it's something I just looked up. Hereview Subtitle Glasses retail, they retail for a pretty penny, but are huge for inclusivity. Basically, there was this girl whose mom found them via TikTok and gifted them to her. The girl mentioned she was even able to help her own speech. She is. Deaf. And so she isn't able to hear people. What the glasses do is they connect wirelessly to your phone. They can transcribe real conversations for people and place them in a screen and a little display for the person wearing the glasses. It also helps connect and store conversations and it also helps the person that's wearing them. It helps develop their speech, because when they talk, the glasses, when it picks up a word correctly, will display it in the screen. They are supposedly highly accurate. They launched last August, but are starting to pick up steam. 46 million American adults report some sort of hearing loss. And this success could, in this product, could pave the way for further innovations in accessibility and AI driven solutions. It's just very exciting and a really cool product for the visually, or sorry, the sensory impaired people out there. Jesus. That's your light news, babe. It's so cool. You should see this. No, that is really cool video. I think that's amazing. I was just thinking, give us something like gossip or like pop culture. Oh my goodness. Oh, no pop. No pop. Nothing's happening in pop culture other than the Grammys. Everyone pop down now they have to think about this. No, that is really amazing. I love it. And then the other topic I had kind of come up with was researchers from Mass General Brigham. I can't even say that Brigham and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They have identified a groundbreaking alternative with Alzheimer's and it's xenon gas, this thing called xenon gas. Um, basically xenon gas is used in the medical world right now as a general. general anesthesia, but they're finding that this gas has a potential game changer in treating Alzheimer's disease, demonstrating its ability to mitigate brain damage and improve cognitive functions in mouse models. So now what's gonna happen next is this discovery was published January 15, so it's very, very. recent, but a human trial set to begin in the next few months. Their study demonstrated that inhaling xenon gas reduced neuroinflammation, minimizing brain atrophy and promoting protective neuronal states in mice models, which can very much help Alzheimer's disease. So it's a really cool, promising research development. Didn't Trump like freeze all this? And so they're going to need to get a grant for this. But it's all frozen right now. That is actually true. And I would be curious to see what happens with this going forward. Yeah. Cause he, he did freeze. I'll research, have a cure or a, uh, help for people with Alzheimer's yet. We can't. I can't do anything about it right now because there's a freeze this administration. Yeah. There is a freeze. Got it. So great news, but we'll see if this actually follows through with this administration if they allow it to. But anyway, well, that's it for this week, you guys. We really appreciate you supporting us, listening to us again, a couple of things to kind of look forward to for the next week, at least at today's recording. As for today's recording, there will be confirmation hearings. For Brooke Rollins to be Secretary of Agriculture on Monday. Kelly Loeffler confirmation hearing is on Wednesday. One thing to really look forward to is on Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee is meeting with a focus on fentanyl. This could be amplified. With the whole tariff situation going on between Mexico and Canada based partially on this problem. With that said, Howard Lutnick's confirmation hearing is also scheduled for Wednesday. He's supposed to be the Secretary of Commerce. There's a lot of issues with him. Look him up, Howard Lutnick, but he is pro tariff. And he's getting confirmation part of his, if he gets this confirmation, part of his job will be global trade. So this week with all the tariff situation going on over the past, over this past weekend, this week's going to be kind of probably heavy with that because of these hearings with all that going on. So, you know that Kelly Loeffler, she was a, an election denier. And then the day of the insurrection, she's like, Has hundreds of millions of dollars, by the way. And then on the insurrection day, um, she flipped her vote because of everything that went down that day. Yeah, she's a mess. So. All right. That's all we got for you guys this week. Thanks for joining us again and listening fourth episode. We we're getting better. I promise. We'll be back at some point, I'm sure in a couple of days, something will go down with this administration. But, be sure to give us a follow on Instagram at TheCivilU, that's just the letter U. And feel free to send us an email letting us know your thoughts, questions, what we got wrong, um, anything you want, think that we should discuss, um, that email is TheCivilUnion25 at gmail. com. Thanks for listening. Thank you guys.